Shadows of the Past
by BrokenShard
Summary: This is based on the X-Men Evo series, but it has strong connections with the Uncanny X-Men series, since I prefer the latter. The story focus on two main groups and a sub-group: Gambit and Rogue, Magneto and Shard, then the rest of the X-Men, respectivel
1. INTRODUCTION AND UPDATES

Here is the INTRODUCTION! (Read this if you have no clue what is going on.)

3-6-05

I thought I'd use this for some updates and disclaimers and whatever. So check back here for any updates and such. Okay. Where do I start? I'll tell you guys about the background of this story and my character.

Shard my profile character. I know there actually is another Shard in the X-Men Universe (Bishops sister), but you all are gonna have to deal with the fact that I didn't know that five years ago, when she was first named. Plus, there are two Phoenixes, two Sasquatches, two Sunfires, two Morphs, and so on. Anyways, Shard is a friend of Magneto's, they went through the Auschwitz concentration camp together and whatever. (I'm going to spoil you with what is in my fanfic.) She has a very unique power, which is to have total control over her genetic makeup. Which means that she can copy people's X-Genes, and use more than one at a time. Then you think, "That's WAY too powerful!" Ah! But there's a catch. If she uses more than four or five X-Genes at a time, she runs the risk of losing her own consciousness, similar to the risk Rogue has when touching people. And you say, "That's still pretty darn powerful!" and I say, "That's why it's _my_ fanfic!"

Anyways, let's get on to a bit of history here. Right before my fanfic starts, the whole X-Men Evo Apocalypse saga has just happened. Except I changed it a bit. In the original, Rogue defeats Apocalypse, but as much as I like Rogue, it was really Magneto that did. So here's what happened: Apocalypse is about to do his whole death-ray-evolutionary-cleansing-thingy and Magneto tries to stop him because he's supposed to be the one ruling the world. Can't take competition. Apocalypse jacks up Mags and is about to kill him when Shard appears and starts kicking his ancient Egyptian butt; fighting him one on one. (It takes a juggernaut to stop a juggernaut.) He's beating her so she accesses all her little X-Genes she has stored up in herself at once and severely wounds him a big blast. But Shard's mind is lost in the process and Apocalypse still survives. Magneto sees her fall and in pure rage he rips Apocalypse's metal body apart atom by atom (Similar to the AoA X-Men universe). Apocalypse is dead and Shard is alive, but without her mind. My little fanfic starts a little after that. Can't tell you more, can't spoil the story.

FAQ of the day (which really isn't a Frequently Asked Question, or even a Once Asked Question, just something I thought you might want to know)

Oh crud, I forgot what I was gonna say… give me a minute. Okay, here it is: _Why do you use X-Men Evolution as a basis of your fanfic?_

Well, the Evo series is finished, and it leaves a lot of the X-Men universe untouched. I thought it would be easy for me to use it as a basis for my fanfic since I could go through many aspects of the Uncanny series with my own twist. So this is basically Uncanny X-Men if I had written it. You have to realize that it suited my needs quite perfectly. In New X-Men Magneto is dead; in Ultimate X-Men Magneto is heartless. (If you haven't realized this, Magneto is one of my favorite characters.) But if you look in the 90s X-Men, Magneto is NOT entirely evil, though I will admit, he isn't a saint either. So there's your answer, more or less. But all you Uncanny fans, don't worry, I'm heavily indoctrinated the X-Men Universe. And I'm not talking about the movies that really water down the coolness of X-men.

Until later,

Shard


	2. Kidnapped by a Cajun

Rogue walked into her room and took off her backpack. It dropped to the floor with a large thud. It had taken a while for the Apocalypse dilemma to die down, but finally there was a break from the constant news barrage. Unfortunately, there was no break from homework. She sighed, walked over to her bed and sat down.

"Huh?" she said in surprise. Resting neatly on her pillow was a small wrapped package. She tore the paper off to reveal a deck of playing cards. Rogue raised her eyebrow as she shuffled through the cards, finding all the aces missing. At the top of the pile was her card- the Queen of Hearts with black writing scribbled on the face. _I be at da beach, sundown, no friends._

Rogue looked out the window. It was late afternoon; the sun would be set in a few hours. That gave her enough time to attend one of Logan's training sessions. _Yeah right_. She placed the cards in her pocket and left her room, carefully shutting the door behind her.

She found herself in the kitchen, digging through the refrigerator, looking for something substantial enough to impersonate dinner. She settled for an apple and a soda, a not so appetizing combination, but you know how teens are. Rogue walked out of the kitchen, nearly running into Erik.

"Sorry Mr. Lehnsherr, I wasn't paying attention." He stared at her with a weak attempted smile. After what seemed to last forever, he spoke. "Don't eat too much, dinner's in less than an hour."

Everyone at the institute was weary of him, save the Professor. It takes a while to adjust to sharing breakfast with someone that's come close to killing you. Even when they were batting Apocalypse together, they were uneasy allies. Xavier was crazy to have let him in.

Erik wandered off to sit at the empty table, resting his head on his hands and staring into space. Feeling a small amount of pity for the lonesome man, she looked back for a few seconds and then continued on.

At the table Erik was deep in thought, remembering…

_Shard lies in a hospital bed at the institute, unconscious. He sits down next to her. Charles wheels into the room._

"_I'm sorry Erik, but there's nothing else we can do. Her body has fully healed, but her mind is not present. I cannot detect a conscious." Xavier looks at his old friend in pity. Erik steeples his fingers and rests him head on his hands. He sighs deeply. Xavier continues on a higher note. "What I don't understand is how you were so badly defeated by Apocalypse before and how you later tore him apart in a burst of rage."_

_Erik looks at Xavier with his icy blue eyes. "Maybe it's because I was fighting for the wrong reasons at first."_

_Xavier considers this as Erik resumes his blank staring state. He is obviously not in the mood to talk. Xavier silently wheels out of the room and leaves Erik and Shard alone in a room. Erik looks down at his friend sadly and gently strokes her cheek._

"_Don't worry, I'll find you. I promise."_

It was almost sundown. Rogue walked along the rocky shore line, looking around. She spotted a white object in the sand and picked it up. It's the ace of clubs. _Come on chere, come on, _it read. Putting it in her pocket with the rest of the cards, she continued forward at a faster pace.

It wasn't long before she found another card –the ace of diamonds- resting on a large piece of driftwood. Rogue become more and more anxious with each second.

_What is your game, Remy?_ she muttered to herself. A bit further up she found the ace of hearts on a large boulder. She took a nervous bite of her apple and chewed.

It was getting dark as the sun is almost fully set. She turned to look at the dark sea; its waves were now more menacing without the light. Gambit stepped from the shadows behind her and speaks.

"Looking for dis', cherie?"

Rogue spun around, started. Gambit held out the ace of spades and smiled.

"Here, you found me." He placed the card in the hands of the startled girl. It didn't take long for Rogue to recover.

"Why did you call for me?" she demanded.

Gambit picked up her apple (she had dropped it) and brushed the sand off it. He offered it back to Rogue but she refused. He shrugged and discarded it. "Well, I be wondrin' of ya wanta take another lil' excursion wit' me."

"What do you _really_ want?" she asked. Gambit placed his hand on the back of his neck and looked away.

"I was hoping you do me a favor."

Rogue sighed and began to walk away. Gambit ran in front of her and stopped her retreat.

"Look," he began, "I sorry 'bout last time. But you gotta come wit' me. I wo-"

"I'm tired of being used. Why can't everyone leave me alone!" She pushed past him and continued on. Gambit grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"I don' want ya for your powers, chere, I wan' you for you. So come wit' me. We have 'nother adventure. You an' me; Gambit et Rogue; it your choice, chere; I won' force you. But I wan' your help. Trust me. It be fun."

Rogue sighed and submitted. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but I'll trust you. You gonna get me killed 'cause of this."

"Don' worry, Gambit will protect ya." He grabbed her hand and ran off into the woods with Rogue alongside him. Hidden behind a bush was his bike.

"Now we ride!" he exclaimed. He reached into his pockets and trench coat, looking for his keys. "Where did dose darn-"

Rogue held up a finger with the keys twirling around it. "I'll come on one condition," she said.

Gambit raised his eyebrow and grinned.

"I get to drive."

"You make a hard deal, cherie." He tries to snatch the keys from her but Rogue is too fast. She pulls the keys in before he can get them. Gambit sighs.

"D'accord chere, d'accord." Rogue smiled as he gave in.

"But if my bike get one scratch…" They climbed on, Rogue in behind the wheel. She started the bike and they sped off down the dirt road, kicking up a lot of dust.Gambit was almost thrown off.

_She say I get _her_ killed…_ He thought to himself as they rode into the darkness.

At the Xavier Institute everyone was sitting down for dinner. Rogue's seat was empty.

"Has anyone seen Rogue?" Kurt asked. Everyone looked at each other for a moment and continued eating.

"Haven't seen her since school today," Kitty replied. "She has a major Algebra II test tomorrow. That girl's probably cramming right now."

"I guess," Kurt conceded. He took a bite a chicken and realized that Erik was missing.

Beast walked into Rogue and Kitty's room with a plate full of food. "Here Rogue, you missed-" He stopped and looked around. The room was empty. Placing the plate on a dresser, he picked up Rogues backpack, untouched and filled with her homework.

"Hmmm…" he thought and walked back to the living room, where Xavier and some students were gathered.

"Rogue is not in her room," he reported, exchanging worried looks with Xavier. "And her homework is untouched," he added.

"Where could she be?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know," Xavier replied, "but I sense that another mutant is involved."

"Rogue wasn't the _only_ one absent at dinner," Kurt suggested.

"Erik." Xavier mentally scanned the area. "He's in his bedroom…"-he narrowed his eyes- "And using his powers right now."

Meanwhile, Erik was lying in bed, having a nightmare. Metal objects floated and danced around the room. He tossed and turned, muttering, "Where are you? Where are you?" over and over.

Suddenly the door burst open and he sat up, hand on his head. The objects fell to the ground.

"Where's Rogue?" Scott demanded.

"What? Rogue?" Erik looked dazed and tired not to mention ticked off that his room was invaded by a bunch of kids. "I bumped into her in the kitchen a few hours ago. Haven't seen her since."

"Come on, let's leave Mr. Lehnsherr alone. I'm sorry we disturbed you Erik," Xavier apologized. "Rogue is missing. We were just a bit worried."

"It's okay Charles." He fell back into his bed and stared at the ceiling. Xavier and his students leave the room and shut the door behind them.

"For former super-villain, he sure has a messy room." Scott indicates to Jean all the items strewn across the floor.

"Everyone has their weaknesses. He's only _human_," she answered.

"He'd probably _kill_ you if he heard you say that," Scott joked. Jean elbowed him and they walked off, arm in arm, searching for Rogue.

The next day, Rogue stopped the motorcycle outside a harbor in Boston. She looked around and parked the bike in a lot. They got off and began walking along the dock.

"Dere!" Gambit pointed with his staff. "Come on chere, follow me."

They quietly approached a large, Europe-bound cargo ship. Men at the dock were loading it. The two quickly snuck onboard and into the cargo hold. They find a place behind some crates and sacks of who-knows-what to settle down.

"Sorry chere, I got tired of trains," Gambit joked. The cargo hold's door was closed and it became pitch black. He lit a card and illuminated the area.

"So where _are_ we going?" Rogue asked.

Gambit opened a crate and took out two apples. He tossed one to Rogue and took a bite out of his own. "First stop: France."

Rogue looked at her apple and began to eat it.

"Sorry chere, I buy us first class tickets, but money don' come dat easy anymore; since I stop thievin' dat is. Hope you like dem apples. We be havin' a lot of dem for a couple weeks."

"So what will we be doing up in France?" she asked.

"Well-" The two were flung back a little as the boat started moving. Gambit helped Rogue up and they found a seat with their backs against some crates.

"Here we go, cherie; we be off!"


	3. By Air, By Land, By Sea

_Erik walked through the black void, searching. Standing in the distance was a seemingly young girl with long, black hair. He ran towards her yelling her name: "Shard!"_

_She turned around and saw her long-time friend. "Magnus!" she yelled and ran towards her. Erik grabbed her as she threw herself into his arms. After a long, tight embrace, Shard spoke to him._

"_You still have yet to find me," she said, "remember, you promised."_

"_But I have… you're right here, with me… we're together again…" he pleaded. He looked into her dark brown eyes. They were so real; no dream could replicate this. He had found her, hadn't he?_

_An evil laughter echoed through the blackness. He turned around and tried to find the source. Shard pulled him back to her._

"_We don't have a lot of time," she said, hurriedly. "I'm trapped Magnus; I can't get out. He has me; I can't escape."_

"_What? Who?" Erik questioned. "Who could trap you?" The laugh was getting louder and closer._

"_He's coming for me, Magnus. You have to find me; I can't survive much longer." A shadow reached out and grabbed her; pulling her away. Erik held onto her hands and tried to keep her from being torn away. "Where are you?" he yelled._

_Shard was fighting the blackness that had gripped her. "You can't take me back there!" she screamed. "Not there! Not again!" Her hand was pulled from Erik's and the shadow was dragging her away._

"_Where are you!" he screamed. "Where are you!"_

"_The only place that I vowed to never return to..." _

_The shadow that held her took form. It was a black monster with menacing eyes and rows razor sharp teeth. It formed a cage around Shard with its clawed hands and opened its hideous mouth to laugh. Shard faded from sight as the face grew bigger and bigger, and it continued its sinister laugh. It reached his building sized hand forward toward Erik-_

Erik woke from the dream; his sheets were soaking in cold sweat. Standing in his room was Xavier and some of his students. They demanded to know where Rogue was. He told them all he knew and they left apologetically. Around his room were random metal objects stuck in the wall and strewn across the floor. _What a nightmare,_ he thought, staring at the ceiling and pondering his dream.

Throwing his sheet off, he got out of bed and opened a bedroom window. The cool night breeze flowed over him and filled the bedroom. Erik looked out to the stars and full moon.

"Where are you?" he asked the night.

"Rise and shine, cherie!"

"Wha?" Rogue got up from her bed of fruit crates and flour sacks. Gambit stood over her, holding out an apple. It had been a few days of sea voyage in the hold of a cargo ship.

"Come on chere, as dey say, an apple a day keep da-"

She interrupted him with a moan. This trip was making her profoundly sick of the fruit. Reluctantly, she took the disgusted fruit from his and slowly began consuming it.

"Dat's my girl. Good morning." Gambit looked at the youth, who obviously was in no mood to be woken up.

Was it morning? It was hard to tell. The hold of the ship was always dark. She looked out one of those nifty circle windows to see a bright, clear sky. She groaned again, set the apple down and tried to get back to sleep.

"No, no, chere, I gotta show ya somethin'" Gambit took a large wad of cash from a pocket in his trenchcoat. Rogue's eyes widened and she sat up, fully awake.

"Where the heck did ya get that?" she exclaimed. She looked at him and then the money and him again. She narrowed her eyes. Gambit read her mind.

"Don' worry chere, I no steal it. Dere was a poker game goin' on in da mess an' I decided t'join. Dat a crime?"

She looked at him, half-relieved, and yawned. They could use the cash. Where ever they were going…

"So…" she started, putting at finger in through her hair. "You still haven't answered my question. What will we be doing up in France?"

Gambit looked down. Sometimes he wished he could forget some things. A lot of times he wished he could forget some things. He sighed.

"My father managed t'get himself in trouble in Paris wit' another guild; trying t'steal somethin' of theirs, no doubt."

Rogue looked down. _Not this again_, she sighed. _Another ordeal with Jean-Luc._ _Great._ _Maybe coming was a bad idea…_ She was not the one that wanted to get into the mess of Gambit and his past.

Gambit saw that Rogue was not that pleased with their mission. He placed his gloved finger under her chin and lifted her face up. "Now, now chere, listen t'me. We go in an' out, free da bum and spend the rest of da time –until your friends find us that is- roaming around in Paris Gambit pronounces it "Parie". Jus' you and me."

Rogue lightened up. The trip wasn't _all_ about Jean-Luc. That was good. She reached for the apple she had placed on the floor and continued eating it. Maybe this trip was turning out okay.

"Rogue hasn't been a school for two days now!" Kitty exclaimed to Xavier, "She's not at here, not at any friends house, the Brotherhood has is clueless as always, I just can't figure out where she went!" Everyone in the Xavier mansion was getting edgy with Rogue's disappearance.

"Cerebro can't detect her until she uses her powers," Xavier sighed. "It seems that we have to wait until Logan comes home." It was a Wednesday afternoon at the Xavier Institute; everyone was sitting down in the living room (Xavier had called a meeting). (Most of the New Mutants were back as well as Scott and Jean, since they were having trouble finding a college that would let them in.)

"We can't wait until Mr. Logan gets home, Prof!" Kurt was the one yelling this time. "That won't be until three days from now. She could be halfway across the world by then!" Things were not looking good for them.

"Umm…" A girl raised her hand shyly.

"Yes, Rahne?"

"I might be able to track her," she suggested. "My tracking skills aren't as good as Wolverine's but-"

"It'll do have to do Rahne, let's go." The large group of mutants wandered to Rogue's room and watched as Rahne morphed into her wolf form. She began to sniff the ground around Rogue's backpack and walked out of the room, sniffing the ground as she went her way.

They made their way to the kitchen, Wolfsbane in the lead. She trotted to the refrigerator and back into the hallway.

"Just as Erik said," Xavier commented, "she was in the kitchen when he ran into her."

Rahne sped up her tracking and led them out the door. Her confidence was building as she raced through the yard, stopping to sniff the area every so often. The X-Men ran to keep up. Xavier tried his best to wheel over the terrain, but once they reached the rocky shore, he stopped and watched his students from a distance. There are certain places that a wheelchair cannot go.

The wolf stopped at a point along the beach and morphed back to her human form. "There's another scent here," she said, panting, "I smelled it once before –in Rogue's room. The two seemed to have headed off in that direction." She pointed to the woods that started further away. Rahne resumed her wolf form once more and sped off into the woods, the X-Men in close tow.

At the same time, Erik, who was absent from the meeting, was in his room, packing. In a small bag he packed a few necessities along with is Magneto costume. It was basically his Evolution costume, but with no helmet and a black cape vs. his old purple one.

For one of the first times in his life, he was keeping an extremely low profile. Which meant that he would be flying in a plane compared to his old metal-sphere system. Time was of the essence, but it would be worse if he attracted too much attention, he reasoned.

After throwing on a trench coat they seem to be in season this time of year over his plain clothes, he was ready to go. He had already communicated to Xavier that he had business to attend to and that he would be gone for an uncertain amount of time.

Erik picked up his plane ticket off the dresser and looked at the destination. It had not taken long to figure out where his friend was. He had hoped to never return to the place himself. But here he was, with a plane ticket to Poland in his hand. The sad man sighed, left his room and shut the door behind him. He walked through the unusually quiet mansion and out the door where a taxi was waiting for him. Erik climbed into the cab and it drove off.

Gambit held out the Queen of Hearts. "Is dis your card?" he asked. Rogue shook her head.

"No it ain't," she replied. "I chose the Queen of _Spades_."

"Oh, but you be wrong. Dis _is_ your card." He set it aside then picked the card from the top of the deck and handed it to her. "Dis is the one you pick."

She looked at it. The Queen of Spades. Gambit was entertaining her with an endless well of card tricks. It got quite boring to sit in the cargo hold of a ship with nothing to do. They had started to play various card games, but after the first hour, Rogue quickly found out that it was pointless to play against Gambit. The only time he would lose was when he chose to lose. Not much of a game.

Gambit took his card back and began to shuffle the deck. They were running out of ways to kill time. Rogue decided to ask a question that had been bugging her for the past few days.

"How many decks do you have in that coat of yours?" she asked. Gambit smiled.

"Ya know what, chere? I don' even know myself." He took reached into his coat and started to pull out decks of cards from assorted pockets. He watched Rogue as she stared at the huge pile of cards that was still accumulating.

"Okay, forget that I asked." It was getting dark (if it wasn't dark enough in the hold already) and Rogue was getting tired. Remy's piercing red eyes glowed through the darkness. He was very much like her, an outcast, and they had very similar pasts. It was a pity he refused to join her at the institute. _"A place like dat wouldn't accept people like me," he had told her, "not wit' my past sins..."_ She had argued that it was a place of new beginnings, but he rebuked her; said that some things can never be forgiven.

He began the long process of putting the cards back into his pockets. On this trip Rogue had remained mostly to herself, a loner. Not like he was any different. _Two loners, together; and of course, they barely manage to talk to each other_, he sighed. This was one of the rare times he had a chance to start a conversation. _You have to start somewhere…_

"So, um, how's life at da institute?" he asked.

She looked up. "It's okay, I guess. Xavier's not that bad."

"Any friends?"

"Well, yes and no," she sighed. Gambit raised an eyebrow, inquiring her to go on.

"I thought I had a good friend, Risty, but she turned out to be Mystique, who was just using me to get into the institute. What is it about me that makes people think they can use me?"

He got up and moved to where Rogue was sitting against a crate and put and arm around her. "I don' know, chere. Been down dat path too. Maybe it jus' how us loners are. Easily manipulated. Or maybe it why we loners. 'Cause we don' trust nobody."

"Mmmhmmm…" Rogue replied softly. It wasn't even five seconds later until she was asleep. Gambit picked her up gently and rested her on a bed of flour sacks. He took off his trench coat and laid it over her.

"'Nite, cherie." He climbed to the top of a few hard crates and lay down. As soon as he closed his eyes, dreams filled his mind; and they were not the pleasant sort. Which is what happens when you have a dark past such as his; your nights are filled with nightmares.

After a while of trekking through the woods, Rahne stopped along a dirt path. The road had a singe set of deep tire marks, obviously from a motorcycle. She morphed back to her normal self.

"This is where I lose the scent," she said sadly. The group of kids looked at the ground in dismay.

"It appears that a motorcycle was the vehicle of transport," Beast analyzed. "And whoever kidnapped our friend left in a hurry."

"Great," Scott scowled, "how are we gonna find her now?"

"Are you sure you can't track them, Rahne?" Jean asked.

"I can try," she replied with little enthusiasm. She took her wolf form and began to sniff the ground. _Okay, focus Rahne, focus._ She slowly started down the path and gradually sped up. Then scent was very weak, at it became harder and harder to distinguish it. It was when they reached a highway that she stood up, human again.

"I lost them," she said in defeat. They all stared at the empty highway. There was no way to tell where Rogue was taken. All of their heads snapped as a yellow taxi drove by.

"Hey, isn't that Mr. Lehnsherr?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah," Scott answered, narrowing his eyes, "and I have a feeling that he has something to do with this."

_Screams. Gambit turned his head to each side, trying to find an exit _What have I done?_ he thought Every tunnel he took, he saw more and more lifeless mutant bodies. _This is what happens when you make a deal with the devil, Remy. This is what you've caused. Was it worth the money? _he mentally beat himself up._

_He had to find a way out, a way out of this, this nightmare. He ran though the maze of sewers, stepping over the dead carnage. One of the bodies cried out. It was a young girl with bones protruding from skin all over her body. He picked her up. At least he could rescue one soul from this disaster he had caused..._

_The wall behind him exploded. They were coming! Had to run. Had to get away…_

On top of a pile of crates, Gambit was tossing and turning in his sleep. His constant moans had woken Rogue up. She walked over to the place were he rested and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man," she shook him, "wake up." Gambit thrashed more and more, pushing her away. "Come on," she pleaded, "snap out of it!" It was then that she noticed that the crate under her sleeping friend was glowing. He had unintentionally charged it in his sleep.

"OH CRUD!" she yelled as she grabbed him and dragged him off the crate. She threw him to the ground as the crate exploded, sending fruit mush everywhere.

"Huh?" Gambit's eyes snapped open. He surveyed the damage. "What happened?"

"You just almost killed us both, _in you sleep,_" she scowled. "I outta-"

"Hold it, chere!" He put a finger over her lip. "Someone coming." They watched as a black shape carried a flashlight down a fight of stairs.

"This is _not_ good," Rogue whispered.


	4. Close Calls

"Professor!" Scott exclaimed, "Rogue was kidnapped!" It was getting dark. Xavier, who was waiting for them back at the institute, raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you come to this conclusion, Scott?"

"She apparently was met by a stranger -at least to us- and was taken off in a motorcycle." Beast explained. "Rahne lost the scent when the trail led to a highway." Rahne looked down.

"Don't worry, Rahne," the Professor consoled, "you did the best you could. We didn't ask for anything more." He turned to the other students. "This presents a challenge to the rest of us. It won't be until Saturday that Logan comes home. We're going to have to solve this as best we can without his aid."

"Sorry to interrupt, Prof.," Kurt apologized, "but it's not like she hasn't been kidnapped before." Xavier raised an eyebrow (he does that a lot) at the suggestion.

"Gambit," Scott scowled. "Which reminds me… I saw Mr. Lehnsherr traveling down the highway Rogue's trail led to. Where is he now?"

"He explained to be that he had business to attend to," Xavier answered.

"How long will he be gone?"

"He wasn't sure. Told me that he'd be gone for a uncertain amount of time." Suspicions in the students had been evoked. They looked at each other. Xavier continued, "I don't believe he was behind this. He has… other issues."

"What kind of 'issues'?" Jean asked.

"An old friend… It isn't my business, nor is it yours."

"Just what we need," Kurt sighed, "anther Logan."

"Something about this doesn't smell right, Prof.," said Scott. "I don't trust Mr. Lehnsherr. He's only been our biggest enemy until Apocalypse came around. Then he decides to be an X-Man. People don't just make those changes overnight."

"This is an issue you're going to have to trust me on, Scott," he looked around, "all of you. I believe his change is genuine, and we a least can give him a chance. As for Rogue, he was asleep during the kidnapping."

"Doesn't stop him from having someone do his dirty work for him. Never has before." The X-Men nodded in agreement at Scott's comment. It was true; Magneto was rarely alone in his schemes. "After all, Gambit was once one of his little henchmen, was he not?"

"We don't have enough evidence to be pointing the finger at anyone," Xavier defended. "Anyone could have kidnapped our friend. Cerebro will detect her if she uses her powers. We must wait until she does, or until Logan returns; whichever is faster." Scott submitted in frustration. This was going to be a long wait.

Erik looked out the window of the plane. It was a dark, cloudless night. Under the plane was the seemly endless Atlantic Ocean. He was remembering…

A young Erik was standing in line. He was wearing blue and white striped clothes that loosely fit his slim figure. He limped forward in line. Only three more people in front of him…

He had broken his right leg while laboring the day before. The pain was excruciating but he clenched his jaw and hid it. He had to work… He had to survive.

Behind him a young girl in the same garb watched his limp. She quietly crouched down and placed her hand on his leg. Erik looked back at her and winced as the bone popped back into place. The girl stood up. He tested his leg. It was… healed.

"How'd you-" She put a finger over his lip.

"Shhh…" She looked around. "I've seen you. In the camp. You're like me." Erik looked at her in fake puzzlement.

"Don't try and hide it. You can do things, things that others can't. You have a gift."

Erik eyed her suspiciously. _Trust no one._ That was the rule of this earthly hell. It was governed by food, work and death. Reluctantly he opened up.

"Name's Magnus. But call me Erik." He paused. "You can… heal people?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I seemed to be able to mimic other people. And if they have gifts…" Erik gave her a confused look. "Okay, here. Let me show you." She looked around to make sure no one was watching. She raised her hand and focused on the chain around her neck. After a while of straining, the metal identification tag lifted into the air. Erik grinned. It was then that an SS soldier grabbed him by the collar and pushed him forward.

"Your turn, worm," he sneered in German.

Erik walked up to the red-stained table and sat down. An SS worker with a grim face held up a needle. Erik gave him his left arm and gritted his teeth as the black needle slowly dragged across his skin. He looked at the worker with hatred, wishing to strangle him. But all resistance ends in death. Finally the process was over and he looked down at his new name: number.

He managed to linger long enough until his new friend got her arm tattooed. She got up and walked over to him.

"You need to get going," she whispered, "before you get in trouble."

"I didn't get you name."

"Shard. I live over in the original Auschwitz." Erik's mouth opened in horror.

"You mean," he lowered his voice, "where all the-"

"Experiments are," she finished. "They mutilate us for 'the good of the rest of the population.'"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. From what I hear, there's isn't a better chance of survival in Birkenau." She narrowed her eyes. "I _was_ a twin. The lucky one of the two. The control. They won't keep me much longer. Now my counterpart is gone…"

"My sister," she whispered, "could heal people. She could cure any disease, anyone… except herself." A tear rolled down her cheek. Erik almost laughed. Such sentiments are a delicacy in this hell. He was almost jealous. One's mind just closes itself off to those kinds of things, after seeing… too much.

"There is no room for attachment like _that _in a place like _this_, Shard," he scowled.

"There are things we must hold on to," she argued. "No matter what happens."

"My entire family was shot in front of my eyes. Murdered. I wasn't given that luxury." He pointed to himself. "They made me build this accursed place; my own prison." He shook his head. "You can't talk to me about 'holding onto things.' There is nothing left to hold onto."

"You, my friend, are wrong." She looked around. "You really need to get going. Have faith, Magnus; there is always hope."

"Is there anything I can get you?"

Erik looked up. A young flight attendant was walking by with her cart. He checked his watch. It was morning and she was making her breakfast round.

"Sir?" she asked

"No, I'm fine, thank you."

The attendant nodded and then proceeded in asking the people that sat next to him what they would like.

"Not hungry?" asked the man who was sitting besides him.

"Not really," Erik answered. He tried to turn away to prevent a conversation from starting, but it was too late.

"Name's Eric." He held out his hand and Erik shook it. "And you?" Eric asked.

"Magnus." Erik sighed. Shard always had insisted on calling by his real name.

"Sounds Polish."

"It is."

"Visiting or, more likely, returning?" the Eric asked.

"Returning," Erik sighed again. "What about you."

"Oh, well, business trip and that sort of stuff." He began to get up. "Speaking of which, I'd gotta take care of some stuff… It was nice talking to you, Magnus."

Erik watched as the man left and traveled up the isle. After Mr. Name-Copy-Cat walked from sight, he diverted his attention once again out the window. This was turning out to be a long flight. (Seven hours is a lot, especially if you're used to zipping around in little metal spheres.) He played with the idea of using his powers to speed up the flight. _Patience, Magnus, _he advised himself.

"What was that?" the captain asked.

"I donno," answered the guard, "sounded like some sort of explosion."

"That is _not_ good. Let's have a look around." They both walked around and shined their flashlights throughout the hold.

"Here, Sir!" The guard shined his flashlight on the remains of a crate. The captain studied the remains with a worried look on his face.

"What are we gonna do?" asked the guard.

"I'm afraid we have to call the coast guard. If this was an accidental explosion of a bomb… And we don't know if there are any more …"

"I'll contact the French guard right away," the man said to the captain.

"Good," said the captain. "Once we get this ship in French waters, we'll have it evacuated. Then the guard can give it a _thorough_ examination. Dismissed."

"Oh," the captain stopped the guard. "I don't want any of this to get out to the crew. If they begin to panic, well, I've lost my crew. Understood?"

"Yes Sir."

Gambit and Rogue watched from behind a crate as the two men walked away. Rogue waited until they had shut the door behind him.

"You fool!" She tried to keep from yelling. "Look at this mess you got us in!"

"Don' worry, chere. I get us outta dis one, you see." Gambit crowed.

"I hope you have a plan."

"Plan? No, no, chere. I Gambit; Gambit no need no plan." Rogue sighed at his arrogance and resisted the urge to strangle the Cajun.

"Sometimes I just wish that we never had such powers. It's just ruins our lives. Well, maybe not yours, but at least mine."

"Don' think dat way, chere," Gambit consoled, "I know what you be talkin' 'bout, but remember dat we'd of neva met had if we have no powers."

"That's a bad thing?" Rogue said, in half-joke.

"Ouch," Gambit recoiled. "You cut me deep dere."

"It's not you," she rectified, "but think about it. I could live an _normal_ life, with _normal _friends. An' I wouldn't have to hide behind these gloves. You don't know what it's like, to be hindered like this."

"Maybe not de same," Gambit remarked, "but we both outcasts. At least you _look_ normal. You think it easy to talk t'people when they notice you have black an' red eyes. _Le Diable Blanc_, the White Devil. Dat's what dey called my back home."

"How elevating," Rogue commented.

"Yeah," he sighed, "grown t'hate dem too."

"I think their kinda cool," she admired. "It's kinda like your trademark, besides your cards that is. Like how I have that white streak in my hair."

"Never though of it dat way," he admitted. Light was beginning to creep though the tiny windows. "So…" He reached into a crate and pulled out a bright red apple. "Up for an early breakfast?"

Rogue groaned and pushed it away. She had a diet of apples for half a week now. _Only a few more days of this… Then, no more apples!_

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing in Warsaw in less than an hour and have already begun the descending process." The captain's voice chirped over the intercom. "I ask that you put you seats in an upright position and make sure that your table trays are-" The voice was cut off at the sound of a loud crash.

"I'm sorry," said a familiar voice, "but it seems that the flight plans have changed. This plane is now under Reaver control. We would advise you to stay in your seats; anyone found near the cockpit will be shot on spot. This plane has a bomb in the cargo bay that'll go off in five minutes, _unless _you surrender Graydon Creed to us. Thank you for flying with us." The intercom was turned off. Two men with large machine guns walked down the isles, looking side to side.

As people panicked around him, Erik looked at the empty seat next to him. _Eric,_ he thought,_ that devil-_

"Mommy," he heard a Polish child ask in the seat in front of him, "are we going to die?"

"No," she answered (in Polish), "I'm sure that they'll leave when they find what they want."

_So, they want Graydon Creed eh?_ He thought. _I'll give them Graydon Creed. _He stood up and waved to the Reavers. They walked towards Erik, guns pointing at him.

"Creed?" the bigger one asked.

"What do you think?" he mocked. They grabbed him roughly and marched him up the isle.

"That smart talking won't get you far, Creed," said the shorter one.

"We'll see about that," Erik muttered. They dragged him up to the cockpit where two bloody pilots were gagged and bound.

"Hey boss, this guy says he's Creed," said one of the Reavers that had a gun resting in his back. Bad Eric stepped out from the pilot's seat.

"Ahhh," he said, walked up to Erik, "Mr. Magnus, how noble of you. Unfortunately for you, it will cost you your life. I know the man I seek and he is not you."

"I know," Erik grinned. He broke free of the Reavers' grip and gave Bad Eric a hard blow to the face. Bad Eric stumbled backwards. He regained his balance and wiped the blood from lips.

"You will pay for that," he growled. Erik Lehnsherr raised his hand and all the Reavers' guns were in the air, pointing at their owners.

"I think not," he grinned. Bad Eric laughed as his arm transformed into a large gun. He fired several rounds at Erik L.. Bad Eric stared in horror at the bullets levitating in front of Erik's chest.

"So you're a mutant too," he recognized.

"What was your first guess?" Erik clenched his fist and Bad Eric's gun-arm began to twist and pull. Bad Eric winced and pleaded with him.

"Then you must understand why we want Creed," he appealed. "He wants us all _dead_."

Erik sighed. He knew who Graydon Creed was. But anti-mutant lobbyist and founder of the Friends of Humanity, a national movement dedicated to wiping out the mutant menace. He would have let them take Creed, had it been his old life. But this was now, and as hard as it was…

"Sorry, no can do," he answered. Bad Eric's face straightened.

"Fine," he said with a nasty smile. "I see you have made you decision, and here are the consequences." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small remote device and pressed the classic big red button on it. The plane shook violently as the tail blew off. Erik released Bad Eric and ran to the center of the plane. The Reavers used the time to grab their parachutes and leap from the falling plane. Bad Eric looked at him and saluted.

"Good luck, Magnus," he sneered as he leapt from the plane.

Erik looked at the task ahead of him. People around him were screaming and cursing in both Polish and English. He glanced out a window. The ground was getting dangerously close. Above him the roof cracked open and the plane began to split in two.

"Oh no you don't!" he yelled and magnetically closed the opening. Holding his arms out, he slowed the plane to a gentle stop. After a few minutes, the people stopped screaming when they realized that they weren't falling. They all watched in amazement as Erik guided the aircraft onto the runway. When the plane touched ground they all cheered. Erik looked around at the adoring crowd. _Maybe there is hope for humanity,_ he thought to himself.

Creed watched from the back of the plane as the mutant was cheered on. Burning with hatred, he crossed his arms thought to himself. This was a hard blow to him, having your life saved by the ones you despised. Maybe there was a way to turn this situation against the mutie…


	5. Ma Bon Paris

"Next on Global News Network: a plane in Warsaw lands i vertically /i on a runway in Warsaw, Poland after the tail was blown off by terrorists." The TV screen in the kitchen of the Xavier Institute showed a large 767 floating down to the pavement. The reporter continued: "It is believed that this heroic act is attributable to a mutant passenger with tremendous amount of electromagnetic control. Witnesses claim that the man fled soon after the plane had landed. Grayson Creed, who was on the plane, has his own opinion about this incident." Grayson appears on the screen.

"We have no evidence that this mutant actually saved the plane and its passengers. For all we know, he could have staged this entire incident to gain more pro-mutant support. Whether this act was genuine or not, it proves that mutants are extremely dangerous if they have this kind of potential power. What if a one with similar abilities got hold of some nuclear missiles? I for one-" Scott turned off the TV with disgust.

"Well, we know were Mr. Lehnsherr is," Kurt noted, "although, this situation does further prove that he really has turned over a new leaf."

"But what would he be doing in Poland?" Jean asked. She looked at Xavier, who was obviously hiding something. The professor sighed and gave in.

"Perhaps he is visiting his past," he suggested. The X-men gave him confused looks.

"What kind of past?" Kitty asked and then added: "but then, if it's like Logan's, maybe we don't want to know."

"Erik is a Holocaust survivor," the professor said. The "light" went on in his students' heads. A chorus of "ahhhs" could be heard.

"That explains _a lot_," Scott agreed.

"It was in the concentration camp of Birkenau that he began to lose faith in humanity."

"That makes sense," Kurt thought out loud. "If I saw millions of people murdered in front of my eyes, I would too. That would really stink."

"So, I guess he's not behind Rogue's kidnapping," Jean assessed.

"I still think he is," Scott disagreed. "He must have some plan up his sleeves…"

"Personally," Kurt added, "I have my money on Gambit."

"Who was one of Magneto's henchmen, remember?" Scott was still sure that Erik had something to do with this.

"If only Logan were here," Rahne sighed.

"Which reminds me," said the professor, "Logan is coming back a bit earlier than planned."

"How much earlier?" Kitty asked.

"He should return tonight."

"Chere, wakeup." Gambit gently shook Rogue's shoulder. It was early Friday morning. Rogue slowly got up and yawned.

"What is it?" she asked sleepily.

"Da coast guard," Gambit whispered, "is on da way. We gotta get going." Rogue's eyes popped open and she stood up.

"What's the plan?" she asked, now fully alert.

"Da plan is simple," he told her. "Jus' follow me."

"Good enough," she sighed. She did not like trusting someone in this way, but somehow, she was okay with relying on Gambit.

Gambit grabbed Rogue's arm and ran up the stairs. It was twilight-ish and very misty. A breeze blew over them as Rogue smelled the salty ocean water.

"Now all we have t'do is find a life raft, an' motor away. " Gambit dashed across the deck, searching for a boat. They found a small white Barnett with big blue sails hanging over the starboard side of the boat. Looking at the port side, they spotted a light in the distance, coming closer.

"The coast guard," Rogue whispered. "Hurry!"

When they turned around, they came face to face with two big sailors.

"It seems ta me that we have stowaways," one of them said.

"We'll see what the cap'n has ta say about this," said the other. He pointed to Gambit. "I know you," he realized, "you're the one that jipped all that money at that poker game. I don't like being cheated on." He clenched his fists and advanced towards him. Gambit pulled out his cool retractable pole and extended it. He swiped it under the sailors feet, tripping them.

"Run!" he yelled at Rogue. They dashed for the ship but Rogue was caught at by one of the fallen sailors. She pulled off her glove and touched his face. The sailor went cold and released his grip. The other sailor, who had gotten up, crouched over his friend, trying to wake him up.

The two made it to the boat and jumped it. They hastily untied the ropes and let the boat down. It hit the water with a smack and began to drift away. Gambit was at the tiller, looking around.

"Sapriste! Dis thing ain' got no motor!" he exclaimed. Rogue paid no attention to him and began releasing the sails.

"An' what da heck is a sailboat doing 'ere anyway?" Gambit continued.

"Then well just have to _sail_, Gambit," she said. She herself had never sailed in her life, but she got enough of a dose of the sailor's memories to gain the skill. She grabbed the mainstream and tiller. Pushing the boom out, she turned them out of irons and led them on a reach. She skillfully leaned to the starboard side as the boat tilted sideways and zipped through the mist.

Erik looked out the train window at the beautiful country. It was an almost three hour train ride to Krakow, and every minute of it reminded him of a different train. Fifty people were crammed in a cattle car, on a journey that took days, without food or water…

He had managed to slip out of the airport in the confusion. Taking a few metros and busses, he had made his way to the train station and boarded the train that he was currently on.

He looked around the spacious cabin that he was sitting in it. Five other people sat with him, two to the left and three across from him. They were either reading or sleeping. _Tourists_, he thought to himself. Krakow was known for its market place; a huge one it was. Erik sighed. He was not interested the shopping attractions of the area.

"Gambit," Logan confirmed. He and the X-men were standing in Rogue's room as Logan sniffed around.

"I knew it!" cried Kurt. Logan growled. He never liked the Cajun and probably never would.

"This time," he vowed, "I'm running him through. Whether Rogue likes it or not."

Continuing his tracking, he followed the same path Rahne had led them on days earlier. They marched in and out of the kitchen and out the door. When they ended up on the beach, Logan stopped.

"What?" Bobby asked.

"Something's just bugging me," Logan answered, "I'll tell you guys later." He continued up to the woods and stopped on the dirt road, where Rahne had stopped earlier.

"Why, Rogue?" he asked. "I don't get it." He turned to the others. "There was no struggle. Our friend wasn't kidnapped, Gambit took her off, _willingly_." The X-men looked at him, astounded.

"But why would she do that?" Kitty asked.

"I don't know," Logan admitted.

"X-men, I need you back at the institute," Xavier's voice spoke in their heads. All the X-men ran back to the mansion.

"Cerebro has located Rogue," Xavier said. "She used her powers in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of France."

"France," Scott mused, "Might be on her way to Poland…"

"Will you knock if off!" Rahne barked. Everyone looked at her. It was completely out of her character to jump in like that. "I mean," she looked down, "I know Mr. Lehnsherr isn't the must honorable person, but you don't have to blame him for everything bad that happens. Plus, Rogue went off with Gambit _willingly_, remember?"

"It's just-" Scott started.

"It's no matter Scott," the professor settled. "I do trust the Erik has nothing to do with this, but we need to keep an open mind,"-he looked at Scott-"all of us."

"Let me go ready the X-Jet," Logan muttered. "I have a feeling that we'll be going after her."

"Yes, Logan," Xavier agreed. "I've set the coordinates in the X-Jet's computer already. Scott, Kurt, you will accompany Logan on this mission." He looked at the remaining X-men. "The rest of you are expected to attend school tomorrow." The group marched off to bed with their head hung, complaining.

"Rahne?" the professor called. Rahne walked up.

"Yes, Prof?" she answered.

"I would like you to accompany the Logan, Scott and Kurt on this mission."

"Why me?" she asked. She had never been allowed on a mission before.

"Because you have given a great deal of aid already." He raised his eyebrow. "I also would like to see you hone your tracking skills. I'm sure Logan could help you with that."

"Okay," Rahne accepted. She didn't know what to think. Sure, her first real mission, but she didn't really know Scott and Kurt, and nobody really knew Logan. All of her friends, the New Mutants, besides Bobby, had left the institute. Maybe she would too, if only she had a place to go.

She ran to her room and got suited with her uniform. Morphing to her wolf form she ran out her door and down to the X-Jet's runway. Scott and Kurt were waiting for her there as Logan prepped the plane. They ran inside and closed the door. Within seconds, the jet was off.

_Erik was working in the crematory, as usual. What a terrible position; he had to check the gassed bodies for any valuables that the SS could use. Well, at least it kept him alive. _

_He sighed, looking at the ahead of him for today. This time the monsters had gassed another load of children. _Children_. If he ever made it out of this alive, he would do everything in his power to prevent such prejudice rule the world again._

_Erik made his way over to the fresh corpses and opened a young girl's mouth. (Doing this everyday has a way of hardening you.) No fillings. He proceeded to the next victim, which was a younger boy, probably seven or eight years old. Children typically didn't have fillings, so his work would be light today._

_He proceeding to the next cadaver and stopped. It was Shard. And for a first time he felt an emotion so rare to him, he hadn't felt it for years. He was sorrowful for his friend. She of course had predicted her death, and was right. Erik scolded himself; he couldn't believe he had let such sentiments get to him. But still, she was the closest thing he had had to a friend…_

_Sadly, he proceeded in opening her mouth to check for fillings. As soon as he touched her skin, her eyes popped open._

"_Don't even think about it," she said, jokingly. Erik looked like he was about to have a heart attack._

"_How the heck-" Shard quickly got up and put a hand over his mouth._

"_Shhhh!" She looked around. "I don't let anyone hear you." She sat Erik down. He looked extremely dumbfounded._

"_I managed to fake my own death; and it worked," she whispered. "Healing abilities help a lot when you're inhaling cyanide." Erik, who was regaining his composure, managed to speak._

"_So what now?" he asked._

"_Well…" she started, "look what I can do." Erik watched as Shard's skin began to change and twist. She grew leaner and her hair shortened. After she finished morphing Erik stared at a mirror image of himself._

"_My block is full of 'different' people with 'abilities.' That would be why they were in Auschwitz I, right? I managed to sap this power with a couple others."_

"_Whoa," he said, "freaky." Shard changed back into her normal self._

"_I can, apparently, have more than one. And just think…" she started, "if some SS soldier were to walk out of here…"_

"_With a 'prisoner' with him…" Erik continued. He was really liking this girl now._

"_No one would stop him…" her voice faded off._

"_But when?" Erik asked._

"_As soon as possible. But after I break into the records and mark 14780 as 'dead.'"'_

"_Why?"_

"_Because," Shard answered, "your entire block gets punished if you go missing."_

"_So?"_

"_So!" she exclaimed in a whisper, "Did you consider the human cost? It wouldn't be right…"_

"_Shard," he implored, "morals don't exist in places like this. Who cares about the next person? It's everyone for yourself free-for-all."_

"_Is it really?" she asked._

"_Yeah."_

"_Then why am I risking my life to save you?" she inquired. Erik wisely shut up at that point. Shard continued, "I should be ready in a couple days. I'll find you right after roll. Be ready to leave." She began to walk away but then turned back._

"_And here," she handed him a metal chain. "I get bored sometimes." Erik took the necklace with large chain links ending at a spiky star-like thing. It was… beautiful._

"_For friendship," she said, showing Erik an identical one around her neck. "Fused some bits and pieces of scrap together. It took me a while to carve out the star until I realized that I could use your power to help me. So thanks." Erik put his on and tucked it under his shir . _There is no way the SS was seeing this.

"_Thank you," he expressed._

"_I'll be going." She transformed into a fully uniformed SS officer. "I have some business to attend to." And with that, she marched out of the crematory, leaving Erik to resume his job. He stood, staring for a few seconds, glad to have been reminded on such humanly things. _Friend_, he thought, _haven't heard that word in ages…

Erik woke up as the train pulled to a halt. He must have been dreaming again…

He walked out of the train station in Krakow and walked to a large parking lot with giant tour-buses parked in it. There he purchased a ticket to Oswiechim. Finding the right bus he boarded it and waited for it to depart. After a few minutes as other people (mostly tourists) boarded the bus was off on its long country drive.

"There's the shore!" Rogue exclaimed. She loosened the mainsheet and slowed the small Barnett down.

Gambit was amazed a how fast the little sailboat had traveled. Not what he was expecting. And he really enjoyed sailing with Rogue… He looked up at her. She was standing up with the tiller in one hand and the mainsheet in the other. What a girl. Someone he could easily fall in love with…

Rogue guided them to the beach. It was deserted, as most beaches are early in the morning. The keel began to scrape the sand, so Rogue pulled the dagger board out and jumped out of the boat. Taking the cord attached to the bow of the boat, she pulled it ashore and found large rock to tie it to.

"I guess we'll just leave it here," she said. "I can't think of anything else to do with it."

"I think you be right, chere," Gambit agreed. The two walked away from the beach and onto a road.

"Do you have any idea as to where we are?" Rogue asked.

"Uhhhh…" He looked at the nearest road sign. "Some coastal city in France. Now we jus' need t'catch da next bus t'Paris."

They walked down the road into the busy city. French speaking people were chatting, even at this waking hour, and going about their business. Rogue looked around in confusion, having never been in immersed in a foreign country that spoke a different language. On the other hand, Gambit was enjoying it.

"Now dis be _my_ language."


	6. Surprise, Surprise

The bus ride was a long one. Whenever one is traveling to a place of such death and destruction, a feeling of darkness creeps forward with every mile. To fit the occasion, the sky clouded up and the land was put under shadow.

Erik got up after the bus rolled to a stop. He stepped outside and began walking towards the main memorial building. The air still smelled like burning flesh, even after all of these decades. He looked around. There it was. He saw Auschwitz I, the original camp. He saw the two electric fences that surrounded it, the ones that he had helped erect. And then there was the gate. Above the gate in black metal letters were the words "Work Brings Freedom" or "Work Brings Freedom." It was close to there that he and Shard had first met. Auschwitz I was her "home" if you could call it that. And it was there that the famous Nazi scientist experiments took place. He shuddered.

He stared at the gate for some time then walked inside the information building. Looking at the charts he checked the latest time for the bus to Birkenau. Wouldn't be until another thirty minutes. But that was okay, he would walk. He had done it before; countless times…

It was lightly raining as Erik walked along the quiet dirt road. To either side of him was farmland, were green plants of who-knows-what were swaying in the breeze. It was as if God himself was crying for his people. _That's what Shard would have said,_ he thought to himself. But God could have saved himself the grief and stopped this horror before it even happened… But then there would be no Israel and Erik would have never met Charles Xavier. But then Erik would have never met Magda forcing Pietro and Wanda out of existence. But then Erik would have never met Shard and you went far enough down the line, the world would have been under the rule of Apocalypse. Just another Holocaust, for different people.

Before Erik could make sense of this paradox, he arrived at the gates of Birkenau. He stood at the gate and stepped inside. To the front, right and left of him the camp extended for a mile. Rows of barracks (or what was left of them) extended as far as the eye could see. He touched the lifeless electric fence that surrounded the camp; its barbwire a testimony of the hell it once contained. Anger coursed through his veins as he resisted the strong temptation to rip the fence up in rage.

It was a tough walk to his block; his memories were haunting him. So many things that he had pushed away for so long were surfacing again. He could see a working camp, filled with starving, half-dead prisoners. He walked past a spot where he was brutally beaten by an SS soldier. He stepped over a patch of soil that two captives had fought to the death over a moldy apple. There was… too much death here. It hadn't taken him long to shut himself off to the terror around him.

He found his block, or the chimney remains that marked it. Erik's mind was reeling with recollections. Roll call…

_Roll was over. An SS soldier walked up to him. Erik stared at him blankly and waited for orders. The soldier took out his knife and brought it close to the boy's neck. Erik closed his eyes and waited for the worst. But it was not his life that the Nazi was interested in. He used the blade of his knife to pull the metal chain from under his shirt. Erik gulped. This was not good._

"_What's this?" the SS soldier asked in German. Erik didn't answer._

"_Think you could steal some valuables for yourself, did you?" he sneered. He grabbed Erik by the shirt and roughly dragged him to the side of a building. Erik remained silent. He would be severely beaten for something like this –in the best case scenario._

"_What's all this about?" Another Nazi came to the scene._

"_Why, Sergeant, prisoner…" the soldier grabbed Erik's left arm and looked at it, "14782 was caught stealing from the crematory."_

"_I see," said the sergeant. "You are released from your duty, Corporal. I will administer to this maggot personally." The soldier smartly saluted and walked off, after giving the chained pendant to the sergeant. He lifted the boy by the scruff and slammed him against the building._

"_You will pay for stealing this," the sergeant roared. Erik was extremely petrified. So close to freedom and this beast had to catch him. The sergeant saw Erik's fear in his eyes and consoled him._

"_Don't worry," he scoffed, "death is too good for you. I have something much better stored for you." The Nazi put the chain back around Erik's neck. It was then that he noticed the matching necklace hanging from the sergeant's neck. So he was about to be rescued after all. The sergeant lowered his voice._

"_How 'bout freedom," he asked. Erik, who was quite relieved, joked around for the first time in a long time._

"_Oh no!" he exclaimed, "Not that! _Anything_ but that!"_

"_Now lets not make a scene," whispered the sergeant. But Erik was probably the happiest he had ever been in his life, and couldn't stop talking._

"_Maggot?" He raised an eyebrow._

"_Sorry 'bout that," the sergeant apologized. "Had to say something. Had to put up a good act."_

"_Well you sure did." Erik rubbed the back of his neck._

"_Shhh," the sergeant warned when they reached the gates. "This should be fairly simple," he said, before rounding the corner. "All we have to do is-"_

_As they turned the corner they ran straight into, of all people, the real sergeant. Shard fell backwards and accidentally reverted back to her original form. The actual sergeant, who was a bit dumbfounded, quickly overcame his astonishment and grabbed Shard._

"_Run!" she yelled at Erik. He hesitated, allowing the Nazi to spot his name on his arm._

"_Don't wait for me!" she yelled, trying to break free of the sergeant's grip. "Don't worry, I'll find you. I promise." With that, Erik took off into the surrounding street. Shard, who was putting up a good fight, was hit in the back of the head in with the sergeant's gun. She dropped to the floor, unconscious. The sergeant looked towards Erik, who was long disappeared._

_Dragging the girl with him, he accessed the records. Prisoner 14782 had been executed this very day and number 14788 was put to death days ago. Was he going mad?_

Erik sighed at the memory. He had escaped to the nearest town and was taken in by a gypsy named Magda. She kept him safe until the end of the war. Shard had never reached him, so he went back to Auschwitz when it was cleared out and looked for her.

Not finding her amongst the prisoners, he found the careful records of the Nazi sergeant (so meticulously done, he took photographs). The day after the escape, prisoner 14788 was put to death by hanging on barbwire. Another account showed that she was shot down by several soldiers. That had stirred hope in Erik's heart; it was hard to kill someone with a healing factor. The next day she was forced onto the charged fence. In the last account, she was locked into the crematory and burned alive. He stared at the picture of her charred bones with the spiked star pendant hanging around the skeleton's neck. They had finally managed to kill her…

But today Erik found himself repeating his search for his good friend. He walked between the barracks (or the chimneys that marked them), eyes scanning around. How could someone "look" for a person that was not in physical form? He reached out to the magnetosphere checking for any slight disturbances. None. He walked back to the large mound were they dumped the ashes of cremated prisoners. As he neared the mass grave a bad feeling overcame him. Someone was near, someone non-tourist (if you could call Auschwitz a tourist attraction). Before he could react, there was blackness…

Rogue and Gambit were sitting at a café near the Louver, enjoying a meal of _les croquet-monsier_. The money Gambit won at the poker game was not letting out any time soon. After they finished a meal, Gambit took her around the Louver building and pointed to several places.

"Dey need ta increase security over dere and dere," he pointed.

"You mean you've broken into the Louver before!" Rogue exclaimed.

"Once or twice," Gambit muttered humbly. "Didn't steal nothing chere, so don' worry. It was on a dare." Rogue shuttered at the idea of breaking into the Louver for fun. She decided to dismiss the topic all together.

"Well, I think we will pay to get in this time."

"_Bonne idée,_" Gambit admitted, "but why we go when we no know where _mon pere_ is?" Rogue pulled him by the arm to the ticket stand.

"Ever heard of appreciating the arts?" she asked.

"Never cared 'bout da picture, jus' the price." Gambit's candor surprised Rogue. She could tell that half of him hated his thieving past while the other half was itching to get his hands on another priceless painting or gem. Stealing was an addiction for him, but what she didn't know was that he given it up to steal something more valuable to him: her heart.

After they had purchased tickets, they waited in line to be let into the museum. The ticket lady was not that impressed by Gambit's street clothes in a place as proper as the Louve. However, he compensated his worn garments with his arresting "Cajun charm," as he called it. Rogue pushed him along, with full intention to stop attempts of anyone flirting with _her_ Gambit.

Rogue gave herself a mental slap. What was she doing? Was this not the same guy who kidnapped her a few months ago? Had he not used her for his own means?

Gambit interrupted her thoughts by forcing her to a halt. She looked at him and saw that he was staring straight ahead in shock and almost sadness. Rogue followed his gaze to a figure she quickly recognized.

Jean-Luc LeBeau.

"We'll be arriving on the outskirts of Paris in a few moments," Logan grunted. "You best be donning those casual clothes you brought over your uniforms. No need to attract any unwanted attention."

"But Mr. Logan," Rahne protested as she put on a T-shirt over her uniform, "How do you know they're in Paris? They could be anywhere in France, or Europe for that matter!"

"Instinct," he replied, "you gotta learn how to rely on your gut, kid. You and I are more bestial than that blue fur-ball over there." –He pointed to Kurt- "In some ways animals are smarter than humans, they seem to have a primitive sixth sense. It's how pets go crazy before a huge storm or earthquake."

Rahne pondered that.

"Or," Kurt added, "you could take the fact that Gambit is a thief by nature and what better place to go than Paris? Plus, with Rogue and all, it gives him major points on the romance side of things."

She considered this. "Are you suggesting…?"

"That Gambit has a thing for Rogue?" he finished, "Of course. Did you see the way he treated her back in New Orleans?"

Rahne raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. That's right. You weren't there. But I do think she likes him… Maybe it's a good thing…"

"Not a good thing, bub." Logan interrupted. He flipped the autopilot switch on and walked over to the kids, who were now wearing ordinary attire. "Gambit is a heart-breaker. A charmer. He'll leave Rogue in a lot more hurt than help. Luckily, with Rogue's power, we don't have to worry about any sort of lubby-dubby from either of them, not that Rogue would be inclined to."

"That's good," said Kurt, with a sigh of relief. He and Rogue were close, in sibling sort of way. Not mention they were remotely related through Mystique. Both were outcasts, one by his appearance, and the other by her deadly touch. They had a sort of unique bond, and found comfort in each other. But no matter what, you could never get to close to Rogue.

The small thump the jet made when it touched down snapped Kurt out of his thoughts. They had arrived.

Time to go find Rogue.

"Dere he is," whispered Gambit to Rogue, "An' he no look like he in any trouble. Maybe we should-"

"Ah! Remy, _mon fils_! You donno how glad I be to see ya." Jean-Luc walked over to Gambit and Rogue. He looked at her and then Gambit and then her again. "Dis' your new _fille_?"

"Not real-"

"I swear, you go through dose like you go though decks of cards!"

Rogue gave Gambit a dirty look.

"Say, I know you!" Jean-Luc exclaimed. "You dat girl dat help save me from dose baddies! Did _le diable blanc _kidnap you 'gain?" He looked at Gambit. "Dere are better ways t'get a girl dan stealing her. Did I teach you nothing back home? Remember when-"

"Cut da lecture," Gambit interrupted. "We're here t'help you, but it seem like dere ain nobody t'help. Whad do ya want? Money?"

Jean-Luc looked down and steepled his fingers. "Well, about dat… I need your help wit' dis bounty of mine. Inside the Louvre-"

"I ain' a thief anymore, Father. I left dat back in New Orleans." He took Rogue by the arm and started walking up the line.

"Wait son! You don' know what dis mean to the Guild! If we steal dis jewel, den we go down in guild _histoire_! Please come back t'me, son!"

Gambit turned to his father with both anger and pity in his eyes. "I left dat life long time ago an' I ain' goin' back. You be fine on your own." Then he gave the tickets to the ticket collector and entered the museum, Rogue in arm.

The Louvre was torture to Gambit. It was as if he was an alcoholic walking through a liquor store. He looked around trying to pretend that he was admiring the art, when he was in reality wondering how much this painting would fetch on the market and how he could make off with it. But he was trying to resist the calls from his past, he really was.

Rogue saw his uneasement. "You okay there?"

"Yeah, I be fine. It jus' dat, well, I be a thief all my life an' now I'm in da Louvre and surrounded by so much t'steal…" His voice trailed off.

"We can go, if you want, Ah mean-"

"No, dats okay. Gambit deal wit' it." He tried to calm the anxiety that was building within him. This was going to be a long day.

Erik woke up to find himself shackled to a hard, stone wall. He looked at his bindings. Metal chains. Someone who had the power to abduct him would bind him with _metal_ manacles. _No, _he thought, _there must be something more, no one could be that stupid._

It was then that he noticed the odd piece of technology wrapped around his forehead. It must be some sort of inhibitor. _So, I use my powers, I get zapped._ _Joy._

"So I see you figured out my little electromagnetic obstructer. Smart cookie."

Erik watched as a female, probably in her mid-30s, stepped out. She had a ridiculously low voice, as if she were a large man in disguise. She was cloaked in a bluish-black (as all bad-guys tend to be) and had a red tinge to her eyes.

"Why am I here?" Erik asked.

"You couldn't figure that out?" she mocked in her absurdly deep voice. "Honestly Magnus, I thought you were smarter than that."

"You didn't answer my question," he said sharply.

"Oh, I will in a moment Magnus. But by then it will be too late." She walked over to the manacled Erik and placed her hands firmly on his temples. "I'm about to drive your conscious out of this realm."

Erik felt his mind being pushed away by a stronger one. And while this was present he could only think one thing: _I should have never gotten rid of that helmet._


End file.
